Powered-wheel attachment for golf bag carrier



June 18, 1963 c. RACOOSIN 3,094,185

POWERED-WHEEL ATTACHMENT FOR GOLF BAG CARRIER Filed April 3, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. 0mm 5 P460057 BY A 77' GENE Y June 18, 1963 c. RACOOSIN 3,094,185

POWERED-WHEEL ATTACHMENT FOR GOLF BAG CARRIER Filed April 3, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR. CHAR/Z5 A Coos/N United States Patent 0.

3,094,185 POWERED-WHEEL ATTACHMENT FOR GOLF BAG CARRIER Charles Racoosin, 1199 E St., San Bernardino, Calif. Filed Apr. 3, 1961, Ser. No. 100,156 3 Claims. (Cl. 18011) This invention relates to a golf cart, particularly for carrying a golf bag, and has for an object to provide power means that is adapted to be separably connected to existing hand-manipulated bag carriers, thereby rendering the same easy to handle and control over sloping terrain as well as on level ground. 1 Another object of the invention is to provide a powerprovided attachment that not only is capable of converting hand-manipulated wheeled carriers to powered vehicles, but is further capable of facilitating exchange of the current source, usually a storage battery. Such flexibility of exchange enables retention of the same attachment on a hand cart and easy exchange of batteries, whenever desired.

A further object of the invention is to provide an attachment of the character above referred to that is adapted to convert a two-wheeled bag carrier into a threewheeled and powered carrier that is manipulated with easy facility Whether along a straight course or around turns.

This invention also has for its objects to provide such means that are positive in operation, convenient in use, easily installed in a working position and easily disconnected therefrom, economical of manufacture, relatively simple, and of general superiority and serviceability.

The invention also comprises noveldetails of construction and novel combinations and arrangements of parts, which will more fully appear in the course of the following description and which is based on the accompanyin'g drawings. However, said drawings merely show, and the following description merely describes, one embodiment of the present invention, which is given by way of illustration or example only.

In the drawings, like reference characters designate similar parts in the several views.

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view'of a golf bag carrier provided with a power-driven attachment according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged and broken cross-sectional view as taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

-FIG. 3 is an end view of said attachment as seen from the front of the carrier.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the attachment to about double the size of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a similar, but fragmentary, view showing quick-detach means for separably connecting the power pack for the present attachment.

Referring more particularly to FIG. 1, a representative form of hand-manipulated bag carrier is shown. conventionally, the same comprises an elongated body 11 having a handle extension 12, and supported by a pair of free-turning wheels 13 on a foldable carriage 14 connected to saidbody 11. The lower end 15 (FIG. 4) of the body 11 is adapted to rest on the ground 16 when the handle 12 is released, the carrier being so weighted by a golf bag thereon as to normally assume a threepoint position of support on said end 15 and the two wheels 13. Thus, a golf bag retained on the body 11 by longitudinally spaced retaining wires 17 and 18 and resting on the respective support plates 19 and 20, and held against endwise displacement by a wall 21 on support plate 20, is adapted to be moved from place to place on the wheels 13 and have a position of rest when the body end 15 touches the ground.

The above generally described hand-pulled carrier may 3,094,185 Patented June 18, 1963 be varied and yet be capable of operative connection with the present improved attachment 22, providing the body 11 is of generally elongated form irrespective of its cross-sectional form, and the handle extension 12 is a longitudinally angularly adjustable extension of said body and terminates in a bicycle type of hand grip 12a.

The powered attachment 22 comprises, generally, a mounting bracket 23 for engaging the lower portion of the carrier body 11 and is provided with a support portion 24 for a power pack unit 25, means 26 to releasably lock said bracket 23 to the body 11, a wheel 27 carried by said bracket 23 on an axle 28, a geared motor unit 29 receiving its electrical power from the power pack unit 25 and mounted on the lower forward end of the bracket 23, the wheel axle 28 comprising the output shaft of said motor unit 29, releasable catch means 30 for connecting the power pack unit 25 to the mounting bracket 23, and means 31 extending between the unit 25 and the handle extension 12 adjacent the hand grip 12a for controlling flow of electric power from the unit 25 to the motor unit 29.

In this case, the carrier body 11 comprises a length of square tubing. The mounting 23 is formed accordingly to have side walls 32 and a lower support portion shown as longitudinally spaced transverse walls 33 and 34. The mentioned lower end 15 of the carrier body carries the golf bag support plate 20, the end wall 21 of said plate being engagedagainst a transverse wall 34 at the ends of side walls 32. Thus, the bracket 23 has a position on the end ofthe body 11 that is limited by engagement, as in FIG. 1, of the walls 21 and 34. In thepresent case, the bracket 23 is extended forwardly of the wall 34 by means of side wall extensions 35, an angle between said extensions and the side walls 32 being formed so that the latter are disposed at an upward and rearward angle with the former horizontal, as shown. Aligned axle bearings 36 are carried by said wall extensions 35. The support portion 24 is shown as a rigid pair of arms 37 that extend substantially normal to the bracket walls 32 downwardly and rearwardly, a transverse wall member 38 that rigidly connects the lower ends of arms 37, suitable braces 39 that extend from such points of connection forwardly to one or both of the bracket walls 32, and a pair of support pads 40 at the ends of wall 38 andhaving seats 41 formed therein.

The releasable locks 26 are shown as generally conventional trunk catches that by toggle action of their members 42 and bails 43 releasably catch the ends 44 of the retaining members 45 carried on pivots 46. These catches close the channels formed by side walls 32 and transverse wall portions 33 of the bracket 23 and, thereby, clamp the carrier body 11 in said channel.

The wheel 27 is disposed between said wall extensions 35, as can be seen in FIG. 1. Therefore, the bearings 36 are arranged, one on each side of said wheel, which, of course, is afiixed to the axle 28 to be driven thereby.

The geared motor unit 29 is shown as an electric motor 47, and a gear box 48 that converts the speed to a slower speed of the axle 28, which is the output shaft of said gear box. While the unit 29 may be mounted on the bracket 23 in various ways, the same is here shown as mounted only by means of the axle 28, a stop lug or lugs 49 on the box 48 engaging the wall extension 35 on the side of the unit 29 to prevent rotation of the unit bodily on axle 28.

The power pack unit 25 .is shown as a rectangular housing 50 that encloses a storage battery 51 and is provided with a rheostat-controlled current regulator, represented by the element 52 and With a reversing switch 53, indicated by a control knob. Said regulator 52 and switch 53 may be enclosed in a forward extension 54 of the housing 50.

Access for exchange and servicing of the battery 51 is afforded by means of a hinged cover 55 on housing 50, catches 56 being used to releasably lock the cover in battery-enclosing position. In this case, the battery housing 50 is shown with a bail-like handle 57 at the top of cover 55, and a similar handle 58 extending rearwardly from the lower rear side of the housing 50. The two forward corners at the bottom of the housing 50 are each provided with a projection 59, the same being adapted to engage in the mentioned seats 41, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

The releasable catch means 30 is provided on the forward end of the mounting bracket 23 and is designed to engage the handle 57 of the power pack unit 25 to hold said unit in support position with the projections 59 thereof in seats 41, as clearly shown in FIGS. 1 and 4. Said catch means 30 comprises extension walls 60 of the side walls 32, a transverse connecting wall 61 cooperating with said walls 60 and the transverse wall 34 to define an enclosure in which is mounted a latch lever 62 on a pivot 63 extending between the extension walls 60. Said lever is provided with a forwardly disposed, downwardly facing cam 64'. The rearward edges of said extension walls 60 are provided with seats 65 that have horizontal upwardly facing support edges 66. A spring 6611 biases the latch lever 62 to a position to enclose the bail 57 after the same is entered into seats 65 and in support engagement with edges 66, a forward edge 67 on the cam so engaging said bail as to prevent rearward displacement thereof and of the power pack unit, except when said lever 62 is raised on its pivot, in which case the unit 25 can be tilted forwardly, pivoting on the projections 59 until the handle 57 is out of the seats 65. Now, the two handles 57 and 58 may be used to lift the pack unit off its support pads 40. As seen in FIG. 5, the power pack unit is replaced by tilting the same rearwardly while supported on the pads 40, the handle 57 camming the cam 64 upwardly against the bias of spring 66a until the handle enters the seats 65. The lever drops automatically to lock the connection 30, as in FIG. 4. Thus, for replacement, recharging, or for any other reason, the power pack unit may be easily removed and replaced.

The means 31 is here shown as a flexible sheath 68 that is connected to the body 1 1 and its extension 12, and terminates at a bracket 69 afiixed to said extension adjacent hand grip 12a, an actuating cable or wire connected to a lever 70 pivoted to the bracket 69 and cooperating with said hand grip to be pressed and released by the hand engaged with the grip and a hook end 71 at the end of said cable or wire adjacent element 52 and separable from said element upon removal of the power pack unit.

A cable 72 from the motor 47 has a plug-in connection at 73 with the power pack unit. It will be clear that, with switch 53 turned on, the rheostat control afforded by the means 31 will control current flow to the motor according to the resistance imposed by the rheostat and the motor 47 will run slower or faster, accordingly. When the lever 70 is released, as when the carrier is brought to rest, the rheostat cuts out all current and the carrier remains in its at rest position.

While the foregoing has illustrated and described what is now contemplated to be the best mode of carrying out the invention, the construction is, of course, subject to modification without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, it is not desired to restrict the invention to the particular form of construction illustrated and described, but to cover all modifications that may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. An attachment for a golf bag carrier that has an elongated body terminating at its upper end in a manipu lating handle and supported by a pair of free-turning wheels on a foldable carriage connected to an intermediate portion of the body, said attachment being adapted to convert said carrier from a manually movable vehicle to a powered vehicle, said attachment comprising an elongated bracket generally coextensive with the end of the body that extends downwardly from the wheel-mounting foldable carriage, a pair of longitudinally spaced catches provided on said elongated bracket for separable engagement around the carrier body, a forward extension on the lower end of the bracket below the lower end of the body, a single wheel carried by said extension in aligned relationship with the body and bracket, a geared motor to drive the latter wheel and having an output shaft constituting the axle of said wheel, bearings on the bracket extension to mount said ax'le, a power pack unit disposed rearwardly of the mentioned bracket and separably electrically connected to the geared motor to provide electrical power therefor, a support on the bracket for the lower forward portion of the power pack unit, and releasable catch means on the bracket engaged with the upper end of said unit to retain the unit in position on said support.

2. An attachment according to claim 1 in which the mentioned support of said power pack unit and the lower forward portion of said unit are provided with separable interengaging projection and seat means that retains the power pack unit against rearward displacement from the bracket support during engagement of the power pack unit with the releasable catch means on the bracket.

3. An attachment for a golf bag carrier according to claim 1 in which the power pack unit is provided with a current regulator,

(a) means extending between said regulator and the manipulating handle of the carrier body for manual control of said regulator by the operator at the handle end of said carrier body, and

(b) a separable connection between the last-mentioned means and the current regulator to release said last-mentioned means from the current regulator and thereby free the power pack unit for removal from the attachment.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 'I'horsheim Aug. 25, 1942 Adams Nov. 12, 1957 

1. AN ATTACHMENT FOR A GOLF BAG CARRIER THAT HAS AN ELONGATED BODY TERMINATING AT ITS UPPER END IN A MANIPULATING HANDLE AND SUPPORTED BY A PAIR OF FREE-TURNING WHEELS ON A FOLDABLE CARRIAGE CONNECTED TO AN INTERMEDIATE PORTION OF THE BODY, SAID ATTACHMENT BEING ADAPTED TO CONVERT SAID CARRIER FROM A MANUALLY MOVABLE VEHICLE TO A POWERED VEHICLE, SAID ATTACHMENT COMPRISING AN ELONGATED BRACKET GENERALLY COEXTENSIVE WITH THE END OF THE BODY THAT EXTENDS DOWNWARDLY FROM THE WHEEL-MOUNTING FOLDABLE CARRIAGE, A PAIR OF LONGITUDINALLY SPACED CATCHES PROVIDED ON SAID ELONGATED BRACKET FOR SEPARABLE ENGAGEMENT AROUND THE CARRIER BODY, A FORWARD EXTENSION ON THE LOWER END OF THE BRACKET BELOW THE LOWER END OF THE BODY, A SINGLE WHEEL CARRIED BY SAID EXTENSION IN ALIGNED RELATIONSHIP WITH THE BODY AND BRACKET, A GEARED MOTOR TO DRIVE THE LATTER WHEEL AND HAVING AN OUTPUT SHAFT CONSTITUTING THE AXLE OF SAID WHEEL, BEARINGS ON THE BRACKET EXTENSION TO MOUNT SAID AXLE, A POWER PACK UNIT DISPOSED REARWARDLY OF THE MENTIONED BRACKET AND SEPARABLY ELECTRICALLY CONNECTED TO THE GEARED MOTOR TO PROVIDE ELECTRICAL POWER THEREFOR, A SUPPORT ON THE BRACKET FOR THE LOWER FORWARD PORTION OF THE POWER PACK UNIT, AND RELEASABLE CATCH MEANS ON THE BRACKET ENGAGED WITH THE UPPER END OF SAID UNIT TO RETAIN THE UNIT IN POSITION ON SAID SUPPORT. 